The Internet is a vast collection of global-spanning networks that communicate with each other by using protocols, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP). Via its networks, the Internet enables many computers, located at different sites around the world, to access information from each other.
The World Wide Web (i.e., the “WWW” or the “Web”) is the fastest growing part of the Internet. The Web works within a client/server model. Web client software runs on the Web client computers, and Web server software runs on the Web server computer. Web client software—known as the Web browser—interacts with both the user and the Web server software. In particular, the Web browser receives a Universal Resource Locator (URL) request from a user. The URL is a unique identifier for requested information. The Web browser then sends the URL request to the Web server software using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). In response to the URL request, the Web server software locates and returns the requested information to the Web browser.
The Web contains Web pages that incorporate text, graphics, sound, animation, and other multimedia elements. Many Web pages are formatted in a language called Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML controls the appearance of a Web page. Specifically, HTML controls how information, such as, text, images, and push-buttons are arranged on a Web page. Hypertext links connect the web pages to each other, and to any other pages, graphics, binary files, or multimedia files.
HTML is based on SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language). SGML allows documents to describe their own grammar—that is, to specify a tag set used in the document, and to specify the structural relationships that those tags represent. SGML makes it possible to define different formats, for your each document; to handle large and complex documents; and to manage large information repositories. Full SGML, however, contains many optional features that are not needed for Web applications.
HTML web pages incorporate a small set of tags in conformance with SGML. In general, HTML is well suited for hypertext, multimedia, and the display of small and reasonably simple documents. HTML is not well suited for large, complex documents.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) created a simplified subset of SGML, specially designed for Web applications, and designed for large and complex documents. This subset is called XML (Extensible Markup Language). XML is independent of any platform, vendor, or application. Therefore, XML can be used to exchange information, without regard to the system that the information is coming from or going to. In addition, XML enables the exchange of information, not only between different computer systems, but it also enables the exchange of information across different languages.
The Web has provided authors, scientist, academics, and other content providers with a vehicle for distributing their works across a global network. Web users, however, seem to view the Web as analogous to basic cable. For cable, people pay a basic rate for the cable connection, and rarely do they pay additional fees for a particular cable show. Similarly, Web users are willing to pay a basic rate for an Internet connection, but they are less willing to pay additional fees for content. Consequently, advertising is one way that the content provider can generate revenue.
Many content providers seek to increase their advertising revenue by targeting advertisements to users, based on variables such as gender, age, geographic location, etc. In general, content providers can justify high advertising rates by showing that a company's advertisements are being viewed by users that would likely purchase the company's product.
Some content providers obtain targeted advertisements from Internet advertisement providers. Typically, a content provider submits demographic requirements to an advertisement provider, and the advertisement provider furnishes the content provider with a single advertisement that satisfies the demographic requirements. Such a system disadvantageously lacks flexibility and restricts the content provider's options to the single advertisement. Thus, there is a need in the art for a technique of furnishing the content provider with advertising options.